Fenced In - Summer 2010

She tries to sit outside whenever the weather allows it.  Always on the front steps.  Always with the Spaniel at her side  From this vantage point she can watch the world go by.  Her world.  The only world she has known for the past 24 years.

She sits in the same position with her elbows on her knees supporting her chin, gazing at the same fence, same telephone pole and same neighbors houses. Year in and year out.  Her fence has not changed.  It has aged and faded, it has not been painted.  It is weathered.  Many of the neighboring homes have suffered through improvements, not hers, it looks as it did 24 years ago when she moved in with the man, the children and a different dog.

There is a picture from that time.  The man left 11 years ago never to be seen or heard from again.  The children grew up and moved out.  The dog passed away.  But the woman remained in the house and little changed.  When the fence fell down she rebuilt it and fenced in less space.

She had never given the fence much thought before - what it represented.

Safety.

Fences keep things in and things out.  If you want something protected you build a fence around it.  This fence was originally built to keep the children safe while playing in the yard.  They were 5 and 2 when they moved here.  The dog stayed safe behind the fence too.

It became a reference point when giving directions.  The house was always described as the green house on the corner with the big gray fence around it.

Keeping the woman in.

The Spaniel eyeballs her, licks her arm and lays down on the step beside the woman, as if to say, "all is well in our little world".